Facsimile recording apparatus



Nov. 16, 1948. 3. J. YOUNG 2,454,247

FACSIMILE RECORDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 28, 1945 RECEIVER T M/Pl/T INVENTOR 4.9

CHARLES J. YOU/V6 ATTORN EY Patented Nov. 16, 1948 FACSIMILE RECORDING APPARATUS Charles J. Young, Princeton, N. J., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application December 28, 1945, Serial No. 637,660

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to recording and more particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, to the recording of electrical signals in a manner to produce an improved and more permanent record which is less easily smudged in handling.

In facsimile recorders such as are exemplified by Reissue Patent No. 20,152, issued October 27, 1936, the intelligence or design to be recorded appears as a deposit of marking material on a sheet or strip. This marking material may be more or less easily smudged since it does not readily, and particularly under ordinary conditions of recording, strike into the body of thesheet or web, usually of fibrous material such as paper, upon which it is recorded. Accordingly, the present invention has for its principal aim to provide means for causing the deposited marking material to strike into the fibrous body of the sheet or web. One mode of accomplishing this in accordance with the invention is to apply heat to the sheet or web so as to soften, and in some instances completely to liquefy, the substance of the impressed or deposited marks. Also in accordance with the invention, a solvent which may be in liquid form is applied to the sheet or web for the purpose of causing the deposited or impressed markings to strike into the fibrous body of the web. As will hereinafter appear, the solvent substance which is applied may be effective to soften the vehicle", such as wax or the like, carrying the marking ma,- terial or the marking material itself if it is a dye.

Another important aim or object of the invention is to improve the appearance and readability of images recorded by the process described in the patent above referred to; These recordings, made by the conventional facsimile scanning technique, are formed of lines along which a varying amount of coloring matter has been deposited. Adjacent lines are often separated by a narrow uncolored area, except in zones of solid black or full color. In fact, the slight narrowing of the width of the recorded line in grey areas is partly responsible for the half toning characteristic obtained with this method of recording. It is also true that the deposition of color within the scanning line is discontinuous when viewed under a microscope, the more raised portions of the paper fibres naturally accumulating more color from the carbon paper. Thus for two reasons the recorded areas are not uniformly colored when closely observed. Still another object of this invention, therefore, is to spread and. distribute the deposited color so that a smoother and more useful recording is obtained,

A further aim or object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement in a recorder for applying heat to the sheet or web during the progress of a recording operation so as to provide a more permanent record.

A still further object of the invention is to apply a solvent to a sheet or web during a recording operation which has the property of causing marks impressed in or on the web to strike into the fibrous body of the web thereby to provide a more permanent record.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will, of course, become apparent and immediately suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which the invention is directed from a reading of the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic showing of a recorder of electrical signals such as facsimile image signals; and

Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of my invention.

Referring for the present to Fig. l of the drawings there is shown a recording drum member ID illustrative of one of the methods of producing marks in accordance with facsimile signals such as is illustrated in the above mentioned United States reissue patent. The drum i0 is provided with a projecting helix [2 mounted on its periphery which cooperates with a printing bar member shown schematically at M. The printer bar I4 is or may be carried by an arm or arms 16 pivotally mounted as indicated at 18. An electromagnetic driving unit I9 has an armature 20, movable in response to printing or image signals, which moves the bar 54 through the agency of a connecting spring 22 or the like. Reference character 24 designates a signal or facsimile receiver of any known type which is in communication with the signal input source Zii. Since these elements are well known per se and generally of themselves do not form the particular basis of this invention, they are illustrated herein only schematically.

Passing between the printer bar M and the helix on the drum I0 is the material 28 which is to receive marks which are representative of the impressed signals. The material 28 is usually in the form of a sheet or web having a fibrous body, such as paper. This web 28 is fed from a roll 32 and passes over an idler roller 33 and between the driving drum 34 and an idler 35. Also, passing between the printer bar 54 and the helix, is a sheet or web 36 of material, usually paper, bearing a deposit of marking material, such as pigment or dye in a suitable vehicle. Such transfer sheets are ordinarily referred to as carbon paper, irrespective of the particular kind of ingredients in the transfer coating. The Web 365 unwinds from a roll 31 and the used web is wound up on a roll 38. It will be understood by those that are skilled in the art that rotational speed of the drum ill is correlated with the rotational speed of the driving drum 34 in a manner to obtain scanning; and, also, that the roll 38 is driven at such a speed as to obtain the most economical use of the transfer material on the web 36.

In the arrangement of Fig. 1, there is shown a heating device 39. positioned to receive the web 28 as it comes from the drum it! and over which it passes into peripheral contact with the drive drum 34. Preferably, the heating device is mounted for rotation in suitable bearings (not shown) so that its peripher will move with the web travel. The location of this heating device. while it completes the recording process, is not critical in the organization of parts shown in Fig. 1. As shown illustratively, it provides a large area of contact with the web 28 so as to effect thorough heating thereof. In order that the temperature of the heating unit ma be controlled, there is shown illustratively an electrical heating unit 4!] fed from an energy source, such as a battery 4|, in series with a heat regulator, such as a rheostat 42. It will be understood that heat for device 39 may be derived by other means, such as by direct combustion of fuel furnished through a regulating valve, or from a system of conduits in communication with a heated fluid.

In operation of the organization of Fig. l, the marking material is transferred to the Web 28 by operation of the printer bar 14, and the device 39 melts the image so that it spreads somewhat and enters into the fibrous body of the web. As noted in the foregoing, the spreading effect is obtained by spreading sharply localized excess deposits of coloring matter and, also, by spreadin the line deposits where they are narrower in the lighter colored areas of the copy. The recorded image may be in the form of a waxy deposit in the event that the sheet or web 36 is the usual form of carbon paper which comprises a pigment such as lamp black suspended in a waxy vehicle. As a result, the appearance of the copy is improved and it is more permanent and does not smudge.

Fig. 2 of the drawings shows a modified arrangement in accordance with the invention in which a liquid is applied to the web to cause the material impressed thereon to spread, locally, and to strike into the fibrous body of the web. The parts comprising the recorder are similar to those of Fig. 1 but are shown in a slightly different relationship merely for the purpose of facilitating illustration of the device which applies the liquid to the web. The parts in Fig. 2 which perform the same function as those in Fig. 1 are designated by the same reference characters with the addition of the suffix a. No further description of the recorder of Fig. 2 is believed necessary other than to state that reference character 28a designates the sheet or web which receives the record and reference character 36a designates the sheet or web of transfer material such as carbon paper. The web 28a is drawn through the recording zone by a driving drum 34a and an idler 3512. A wetting roller 46 is wetted by a roller 48 which is at least partly immersed in a liquid 49 in a container 5 I.

The liquid 49 consists of or contains a solvent for the marks applied to the web 2811 during operation of the recorder. The solvent action of the liquid may be such that it acts on the dye which gives the record its characteristic color, or it may have a solvent action on the vehicle carrying the marking material in the event that the marking material is a pigment such as carbon. The solvent action of the liquid 49 will cause the marks to spread locally and to strike into the fibrous body of the web Zea, thereby making the recorded image more permanent and less liable to smudge.

It will be understood that the degree of porosity of the web 28a will be considered in determining the best mode of applying the liquid 49. In the illustrative example, it is shown as being applied to the side of the web 28a opposite the marks. Where the sheet or web is more impervious to the liquid, the recorder organization will preferably be such that the roller 46 contacts the markings directly. If desired the roller 46 may be driven by drive means (not shown) so that its peripheral speed matches the speed of travel of the web 28a. In a like manner, the device 39 of Fig. 1 may be provided with driving means if it is designed to rotate.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is the following:

1. A facsimile recorder comprising a recording drum and means for passing a record sheet relative to said drum and moving said sheet so that the sheet and drum have at least tangential peripheral contact, means for marking said record sheet at the point of contact with said drum under the control of received signals, means for treating the marks on the record sheet comprising a heating device over which the marked record sheet is passed subsequent to a recording operation thereon, and means for regulating the quantity of heat supplied to said record sheet.

2. A facsimile recorder comprising a recording drum and means for passing a record sheet rela tive to said drum and moving said sheet so that the sheet and drum have at least tangential peripheral contact, means for marking said record sheet at the point of contact with said drum under the control of received signals, means for treating the marks on the record sheet comprising a heating unit over which the marked record sheet is passed subsequent to a recording operation thereon, and means for causing the heated surface of the heating unit to move at a rate which corresponds to the rate of travel of the record sheet.

CHARLES J. YOUNG.

REFERENCES CETED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,213,876 Young Sept. 3, 1940 2,215,806 Young Sept. 24, 1940 2,227,109 Shankweiler Dec. 31, 1940 

